Update – Where have I been?

Hey everyone. I’m back! *cues Ma$e – Welcome Back tune*

It has indeed been a while. And a LOT has happened in my life since my last post to which I’m very excited to be sharing with you all soon. But first, since it’s been 6 months since I turned 30 (I know, I can’t believe I’m 30 either. Neither did the guy working at Co-Op who asked for my ID when I went to purchase a Lottery ticket on behalf of my nan), I thought I’d give a little update on the things I did for my ’30 things before 30’ post:

1. Run a marathon/10k/5k – A bit ambiguous here, but I at least want to run one of them – Achieved a 5k run by doing Tough Mudder in October
2. Learn a new language
3. Write a letter to my 40 year old self
4. Recipe a week – Learn 52 different dinners
5. Find a new hobby and stick to it
6. Read 1 or 2 books a month
7. Try and visit a new country – Achieved! Went to Nigeria to attend my besties wedding and I also went to Barcelona for my other besties Hen Do, Portugal for my 30th, Ireland for that same besties wedding (Barca trip) anddd Berlin to attend Berlin Carnival. I lived life boy!
8. Find out more information about my family and make a documentary about it
9. Go on a date/to a dating event – I went to one and it was pretty decent! Although I’m still single, it was definitely worth the experience
10. Host a three course dinner party
11. Explore more things to do in London – A lot of people have said that there’s so many hidden gems yet to be explored in small small London
12. 30 acts of random kindness
13. Bake 1 cake a month
14. Volunteer
15. Go on a Christian Retreat (separate from number 17) – I managed to go to two! Coffee & Prayer Retreat (I’ll talk about that in depth in a follow up post) and to David’s Tent
16. Take a photo/selfie every day for a year
17. Dedicate a day each month for some ‘Me Time’ – I was procrastinating A LOT on this one, until my body forced me to rest. I haven’t looked back since, as well as very much realise it is key to living my best life
18. Join a public speaking club – I didn’t manage to join one because somehow God got me to do a few presentations in front of people and although I was nervous, I got great feedback
19. Find a mentor – Found one! Amazingly she’s also a God-fearing woman!
20. Create more margin in my life – this ties in a little with number 17. My days are a bit more scheduled now more than ever
21. Get a car
22. Get a 2nd/3rd source of income
23. Graduate – again
24. Do a clothes & shoes clearout
25. Do a 5am-9pm day everyday for a month – it was a struggle, but very worth it in the end! Have I kept it up? No. But I will do another month of it again in the near future.
26. Give blood
27. Find my dad – well at least try
28. Fast or go vegan for a month – Funnily enough, I did a little bit of both; I fasted from social media, cut out fizzy drinks and had a healthier diet
29. 7 days of positivity/happiness – I succeeded by having 62 consecutive days of happiness
30. Do 30 days of something – Doing the burpees challenge, 50 (to start off with) burpees everday for 30 days!

As much as doing this list was great, at some point I did panic as I had little time to get things done before I hit this milestone. Numerous people told me that at the end of the day I shouldn’t rush to do things and beat myself up if I haven’t achieved it and so that’s exactly what I did!

Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.Isaiah 41:10

Coming across this scripture helps me rest in the fact that God has it all worked out for me, regardless of whether not I complete this list on time (after all it is His timing to which I have to have faith in!), but I also mustn’t become lazy and let God do all the work either.
Keep an eye out for future posts, where I will be further reflecting on this year as well as an in-depth update on some of the above, to name a few. Until then…

Peace, Love & Prayers 🙏🏾✨

Makayla